Is there such a thing as
absolute truth? Are there definite rights and wrongs? Or, is morality
completely subjective? Are we to show tolerance (acceptance) of all beliefs and
practices? Should we make allowances for sin – sin as defined by God? Or for
different religions? And, should we entertain the thinking that there are many
paths to God?
Is there a purpose for the
things God allows in our lives? Should we expect suffering to be a part of our
lives, or should we try to avoid it, run from it, or adopt a belief that
suffering should not be a part of the life of a believer? And, does God’s love
and grace to us mean he will never discipline or correct us? Or, that he does
not require death to sin and living to righteousness?
In Exile
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. Jer. 29:4-9 NIV
Due to the fall of man in the
Garden of Eden, where they disobeyed God, and thus they sinned against him, we
are all born with sin natures, separate from God, and without hope. We all fall
short of attaining God’s divine approval. Also, Adam and Eve were cast out of
the garden, and a curse was put upon them and on the earth, because of their sin.
Thus, sickness, hardship, pain, suffering and death also entered into the
world.
When we trust in Jesus Christ
to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are delivered from our bondage to sin
and decay, and we are set free to now walk in Christ’s righteousness and
holiness. We have been given hope, and we are now in fellowship with our God. But,
we still live in flesh bodies which are tempted to sin, and we still live on
this earth where sin abounds, and we still will face sickness, hardship,
suffering and death. Yet, we are exiles here, strangers on this earth, for now
heaven is our eternal home.
But, God placed us here for a
purpose. None of us are here by accident. Although we are now exiles, and
heaven is our eternal destiny, God has a purpose for our lives while he has us
here, and that does involve pain, sorrow, sickness, persecution, and suffering,
not just for being a Christian, but because we live in a fallen world. For God
allows pain, hardship and suffering in our lives as a means of drawing us to
himself, and for teaching us to rely on him and not on ourselves, so suffering
can be for our good.
Teaching Lies
Yet, many people surround
themselves with teachers who tell them what their itching ears want to hear.
They want to believe that suffering is not part of God’s design and purpose for
our lives, and that they should just be happy all the time, so rather than
allow suffering to do its work in their hearts and lives, to draw them closer
to the Lord, many of them medicate themselves with all sorts of stuff,
including with sinful practices, to make themselves feel better, but “feel
better” is a lie of Satan, for the escapee only ends up feeling much worse, and
so he continues to run and to medicate, and to push himself even further away
from God.
One of the biggest lies of
Satan is that God’s grace to us is more like a pat on the back to make us feel
better about ourselves, but that it does not require anything of us – no death
to sin, no obedience, no submission to the cross, no yielding to God, and no resisting
Satan and fleeing temptation. They teach his forgiveness of sins in such a way
in which it alleviates people’s guilty consciences, but it does nothing to
deliver them from their addictions to sin, and thus they are still left in
their sin, without hope.
We are not to listen to these
prophets and teachers who tell us lies, and who tell us that God does not
require repentance or obedience or that he will not allow us to go through suffering,
hardship and pain. For, it is through the things which we suffer, which
includes dying to sin, that we learn to walk in holiness and righteousness, and
we draw close to our Lord in fellowship with him. And, it is there, in our
suffering, that we draw on the Lord for our strength, and he teaches us his
will and his ways so we can walk in them.
Seek and Find
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jer. 29:10-14 NIV
Although the Lord has us in
exile right now on this earth, and that does involve suffering, and it does
involve daily dying to sin and self, which is another form of suffering, he
promises that those who have been trained by his discipline will share in his
holiness and that we will reap a harvest of righteousness, if we do not give
up. So, there are eternal rewards which we can reap even while we live in exile.
Yet, we also have the promise of heaven one day, and of our Lord’s return to
take us home to be with him where there will be no more pain, suffering, sorrow
and death. Amen!
Ok, so how then should we
interpret verse 11 to our lives today? What plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future does
God have for his church, his saints, today?
Well, for one, God intended
to leave his people in exile for seventy years, for he had things he wanted to
teach them during this time, and he wanted them to grow in their walks of faith
with him during this time, as well. Yes, he promised to deliver them from their
exile one day, but not for a long while. Seventy years today is a lifespan for
a lot of people. We have the hope of one day being delivered from this world,
too, but we may have to live in it for a very long time.
God’s people had been living
in rebellion against him, and they had not been listening to him, which is why
he sent them into exile. His plan and his purpose for them while in exile,
thus, was that they would now call on him in truth, and that they would seek
him with their WHOLE hearts, not with divided hearts and divided loyalties. Then
the Lord would be found by them, and then they would be delivered from their
captivity. And, then the Lord would restore them, revive them, and bring them
back into fellowship with him. And, this is his plan and his purpose for all of
us, which is why Jesus died for us on that cross.
In other words, God’s plan
for our lives to prosper us and not harm us, and to give us a hope and a future
is to deliver us from our bondage to sin (via death to sin), and to free us to
walk in his holiness and righteousness. It is that we would humble ourselves,
call on him IN TRUTH, and that we would seek him with our whole hearts. This
means that our desire is now for him, to please him in all ways, and it is not
to keep living in sin, pleasing our flesh. For, Jesus died that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness.
So, our Lord allows hardship
in our lives. He permits us to face opposing forces, too, to challenge us in
our walks of faith. He consents to us going through times of suffering,
persecution, and even temptation, in order to strengthen us in our walks of
faith, in order that we will draw near to him, and that we will walk in his
holiness and righteousness, and not according to the flesh.
Yet, he gives us everything
we need to survive, to thrive, to conquer, to be faithful, and to fight off
those attacks of the enemy and to walk in holiness and purity. We just have to
put that armor on daily, and hold on to the truth, and not give way to the lies
of Satan which will try to coddle us in our sins rather than move us to abandon
our sins and to follow our Lord in obedience.
Soldiers of Christ Arise
Charles Wesley
Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your
armor on,
Strong in the strength which God
supplies, through His eternal Son.
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His
mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is
more than conqueror.
Stand then in His great might, with all
His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the
panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all
your conflicts passed,
Ye may o’ercome through Christ alone
and stand entire at last.
Leave no unguarded place, no weakness
of the soul;
Take every virtue, every grace, and
fortify the whole.
From strength to strength go on;
wrestle, and fight, and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down
and win the well-fought day.
Saturday, February 24, 2018,
6:00 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from your Word. May we all take
it to heart and apply its truths to our daily lives. May we resist Satan and
draw near to you.
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